GUILTY GEAR
The Wedding Night
The Series
Conceived and Written By: Sheo Darren
In the previous chapter (the one and only Bridget-May pairing fan fiction online or offline!):
One final battle is waged to redeem the soul of a girl lost in the darkness. One desperate boy reaches out to a love that feels so alone and abandoned in the lonely battlefield that is called love. Yet, even though the clouds of war loom over the horizon of their world, two hearts find their way back to each other's arms. All is well, all is in love.
May has gone back to her beloved Bridget at last…
Disclaimer
I don't own anything here but myself, my created characters and the story itself. Especially not the stuff from Lord of the Rings I'm going to copy; I'm a Tolkien fan through and through. Peter Jackson and the latest movie adaptation rocks.
The Wedding Night Series
"All Good Things Must Come To An End…"
Part One of Five: Rising
.
.
Straight from the ending of Chapter Twelve
The first inkling Sho Tsuzuku had that something was wrong was when he felt that slight surge from a distant place just as he teleported. It didn't come from that mysterious new girl who had so brazenly stepped into his way. It wasn't Sheo Darren either; for some reason, Sho Tsuzuku could not detect the former's aura. It was either that the author in question was very skilled at hiding his power –highly unlikely, considering how scatterbrained he was at times– or Sheo was using some new technique and plan.
The answer to his question appeared when his teleport ended.
"Hello, Sho. It's been quite a while."
Yuuki Darren a.k.a. That Girl was looking quite spry and vigorous for someone who had just come off several episodes of coma. She was dressed in a simple long-sleeved white sweater blouse with the hood undone and a short dark blue pleated skirt and her usual aviator glasses precariously balanced upon her cute little nose. She also wore a rather unfriendly expression on her face.
The one new thing about her was the cute little pendant that hung around her neck, which caught the light from any angle and shone with a special sheen.
"Ah, Yuuki." Sho Tsuzuku was quite convincing as he pretended to be surprise. "What a pleasant outcome. I didn't expect you to be here. What brings you to this–"
"Stow it, Sho," she said quite severely. "I've no time to play games, and I'd rather not waste my energy in putting up with your twisted dialogue."
"So, it was you who redirected my teleport to this place." He raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. No one's done it before."
"No one thought to do it before. Star Wars Interdictor Cruiser to any fans of the Empire out there?"
"And just why did you interrupt me? I have a very important new associate I'm supposed to tend. She'd flunked her entrance exam, but I think I can still give her a make-up test for that."
"That's very easy," she said. "I'm here to stop you."
"Oh?" Sho Tsuzuku pretended dismay. "You? Stop me?"
"I'll stop your evil once and for all."
"You and what army?" he sneered.
Exactly as if she had rehearsed it with her allies –which she had not–, Yuuki raised her hand dramatically. "Yuuki Darren rides alone," she called, even as behind her a mismatched but formidable group of individuals appeared to back her up.
"Not anymore." Ky Kiske –unfortunately still stuck in his 'girl' mode but making the most out of a bad situation– looked up from where he knelt, hands upon the Thunderseal, rising up with gallantry and a certain 'bounce'. "Justice Warriors! Assemble!"
Ky, a ninja guy wearing a mask with many eyes and a long flowing red scarf and carrying an evil sword, Venom, Baiken and Anji went into their sentai pose.
Ky: "Fight! For everlasting justice!"
Venom: "For the sake of Millia Rage!"
Baiken: "To get paid!"
Anji: "To impress Baiken!"
Ninja: "I am the Dark…"
All: "GO JUSTICE WARRIORS! GO! GO! GO!"
"Kiske," Johnny asked in an honestly annoyed tone, "When are you going to drop the entire Blackheart ZERO sentai hero thing?"
"Leave me alone." Ky was admittedly cute as a girl, especially when moping. "I've already been turned into a girl. I must redeem myself."
"Right…"
"That was actually pretty neat," Millia commented to Venom favorably. "But why the Black Justice Warrior costume?"
"It was either that, or the 'White Cracker' one."
"Oh. I see."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Ky glared at the shinobi (who was not the GG shinobi we all know and love.) "You're not Chipp!"
"Forgive me. I did not introduce myself." The ninja made a quick and proper Japanese bow, fist in palm. "I am Hotsuma, the ninja warrior from the Shinobi PS2 games."
"I know who you are! Just what are you doing here? Where's Chipp?"
"Chipp Zanuff is temporarily unavailable. As his close friend, it is my duty and honor to represent him and fight with those he holds as friends."
"What the hell is he doing that keeps him from going here?"
* * *
In Lone Wolf SIX's Revolution: It's Not What It Seems
…The office door forcefully opened. Both Chipp and Chii looked at the entrance and saw a woman wearing body-hugging battle suit, complete with armory and equipments. "Uh-oh…" Chipp uttered and had a panicked face.
"Dark Chii has found Chipp," the woman declared and took out a USP, "Dark Chii will kill Chipp."
"CHII!" Chii cried and faced Dark Chii. "Chii will not let anyone hurt Chipp! Chii will not let Dark Chii kill Chipp! Chii will protect Chipp from Dark Chii!"
"This is one of those days I'd rather not face," Chipp mumbled and shook his head.
* * *
"Oh," Ky said.
They were there, almost all of them. Ky Kiske. Dizzy Kiske. Anji Mito. Baiken Mito. Johnny. Potemkin. Faust. Millia Rage. Venom. Eddy. Zappa. I-No. Raven. Slayer. The glaring absences were Chipp Zanuff (Hotsuma was in his place), Sol Badguy, Justine Harrier a.k.a. Justice, Axl Low, Bridget and May, Testament and Jam Kuradoberi. Aside from those seven, all the Guilty Gear fighters were there.
In addition, there were two fighters present who were not GG characters: Rock Howard and Hotaru Howard, their pair side by side with Dizzy and Ky.
"An impressive showing," Sho Tsuzuku said condescendingly. "I applaud their appearance, if only for the fact that you've been able to keep them in rein so far."
He looked meaningfully at Millia and Venom, who were giving the flighty Eddy angry glances; at I-Nou, who looked distastefully at Raven; at Baiken, who was giving That Girl the cold shoulder; at Zappa, who was thankfully sober and did not have any ghost hovering around him at the moment; at Hotsuma, whose long red scarf flew wild in the air –and into the face of Johnny, who swore angrily at that annoyance; and at Faust, who was at the back of the group and whom everyone was every now and then keeping an eye on, just to make sure he didn't shove something up their ass.
"You don't know what I had to do to get them all to agree," Yuuki said dryly.
* * *
Flashback to a few hours ago…
First of all was Ky Kiske. The former leader of the Seikishidan was a formidable fighter and the bearer of Furaiken. Yuuki knew he was married to Dizzy now, and Dizzy was on her list, too, and getting two fighters in one persuasion were convenient.
Besides, she couldn't find out where Sol Badguy was. She'd have gone to him first despite their century-old enmity; Sol was the hero, after all, and the hero is always kick-ass.
But she didn't know where the former Frederick Mercury had gone. Hence, the next best fighter on the block.
"Hello? Is this the Kiske residence?"
"Yes, Miss?"
"Good morning, Ky-san. I don't think you remember me –actually, you would, but I'd rather not make a fuss out of it; I don't want to–"
"Sorry, miss. I'm not Ky Kiske."
"You aren't? But –but you look exactly like– wait: Rock Howard?"
"That's me."
"No wonder. I really should put my glasses back on; my vision isn't really that good without them." Saying so, the newcomer puts on her glasses.
"Hey, aren't you Yuuki? You're Sheo Darren's version of That Man."
"Yes, but please don't attack me. I didn't come here to make trouble."
"So what did you come here for?"
"I need to talk to Ky and Dizzy. I need their help. We have to save the world."
"Save the world?"
"We're going to fight Sho Tsuzuku. You want world-threatening evil? He's the man for it."
"Then I and Hotaru will help you out as well!"
"Honto ne? Domou arigatou gozaimasu, Rock Howard-san! Can I talk to Ky-san now?"
"Um, Ky is a little busy right now, Miss Yuuki. He doesn't want to talk to anyone he knows, least of all you– okay, maybe Sol Badguy tops the list and not you."
"Why? What's wrong with him?"
There is a girly scream that resounds within the house, the forest around it, the continent the place is found on, the planet itself… etc, etc...
Yuuki's eyes were wide and bishie. "What was that?"
"Um, promise not to tell anyone else or make fun of Ky?"
"Yes…"
Rock coughed several times, suppressed an urge to break into laughter, and said with all the straight face he could summon: "That was Ky."
"Oh." Yuuki then did a double-take. "Oh, my."
She had thought Millia and Venom would be hard to convince. The two hated each other's guts, drat that ZatoOne for that. Venom was a pretty nice person for an assassin and Millia wasn't bad, but because of one blind shadow guy the two always were at each other's throats. This might take awhile…
"Our world is in grave danger," she was telling them. "You have to put aside your enmity and fight together."
"We have."
"You have?"
Yuuki then noticed that the two assassins were holding hands.
"I think you were still in a coma back then," Millia noted. "It's us now."
"We're the latest romantic pairing now," said Venom. "What do you think?"
Yuuki's reaction was memorable.
"You're the what?"
Admittedly, Eddy was a bit harder to convince to join. In fact, Yuuki had to threaten and beat him up to join.
"Will you come along peacefully, or do I need to have to go 'pit Yorkie' on you?"
"I do not fear you, little girl…"
"You asked for it." Yuuki took out the old Peter Pan book and began reading about the part where 'the boy who never grew up' lost his shadow and how Wendy stitched it back –without any anesthetic. Minutes later, Eddy was comatose from cringing in psychological pain and easily hauled away.
Slayer was thankfully open to a civilized discussion. The downside of it was that Yuuki had to drink along with him for a while.
Or was that really a downside?
"Cheers."
"Cheers." She did, however, drink only juice.
"Why not drink wine?"
"I take the form of a ten year old girl. I often act like one, too."
"But you're really a hundred and forty or so years old, aren't you?"
"True."
"And look at Lumiere from Kiddy Grade. She's only thirteen, but she drinks wine already."
"Point taken."
"And there's Go-Go Yubari from Kill Bill. She's seventeen and goes around killing people and drives her boss around and drinks even though she's not the proper legal age in Japan to do so. She's rather like the average American teenager, at that."
"But there's Yuki Yubari, remember? She was sixteen and she didn't drink at The Inn of Blue Leaves and went home instead. That's why The Bride didn't get to kill her at once."
"But Yuki never appeared in Kill Bill."
"There's the original script. The movie is nice, but the script is canon, Holy Writ."
"One for your side. Another round?"
"Thank you."
Faust was, to use one word, annoying.
"WHATTA SAYKO!"
"Doctor, for the last time: Will you stop dry-humping the fire hydrant?"
"UWAAAAH! BOOYAKA BABY!"
"And stop quoting Selphie Tilmitt, or Sheo Darren will get legal on– too late for that warning."
An M1A2 Abrams main battle tank fell from the air and splattered Faust all over the ground.
"At least it's not an anvil any more," Yuuki observed with just a slight sweat drop.
And there was Zappa and his merry band of ghosts…
"I don't suppose the name 'Egon Spengler' would ring a bell?"
"Raoh is the victory!"
"Uh-huh. Right. Who'd like original DVD copies of the 'Ring' trilogy?"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"Woof!"
(Bloody Sword starts bobbing up and down)
"Raoh!"
"Good. Follow me."
Potemkin was pretty easily persuaded.
"Sho Tsuzuku thinks to trample all free expression beneath his oppressive boot. That means he will forbid paintings and artists, too," Yuuki added, feeling clever with herself.
"WHAT? In the name of ZEPP President Gabriel and for the sakes of all the people who love art, I will fight Sho Tsuzuku with every ounce of my power and might!"
"…That was easy…"
Johnny had just showed up and said he wanted to join.
"Want to join my crew as well, kid?"
"No, thank you."
"Why not? I'm far more suave and sexy and handsome than Sheo Darren, aren't I? Why not hang around me instead of that loser author?"
Yuuki gave him one long and steady look. "Millia-Venom," she said succinctly.
The Mayship girls had to stop Johnny from throwing himself into the sea and drowning himself with a big anchor that May had left behind.
Baiken was the most suspicious of the bunch. "Why should I trust you?" the pink-haired swordswoman snapped at her.
"I gave you back your arm and your eye, didn't I?" Yuuki patiently noted.
"You killed my people! The blood of uncounted Japanese stains your hands!"
"I did not kill the Japanese people; Justice did. I don't see you too hostile to Justine, are you?"
"You created the Gears! Your creations did untold death and destruction at your bidding!"
"I do not command the Gears; Justice controlled them completely. Justice has free will. She commands them, not I."
"And so you wash your hands of my people's blood," Baiken sneered. "You pontificating Pilate."
Yuuki sighed and shook her head. "I was hoping we could talk this over pleasantly. Apparently, I was mistaken."
"Damned right." The Japanese woman drew her sword and got into her pose. "Now, let's talk about this in another way: My way."
"You will not agree to my plan because of me. My plan will fail because of me. In order for it to succeed, I must perish, is that it?" To Baiken's utter surprise, Yuuki knelt in front of her, hands held open and leaving her totally defenseless. "Kill me."
"What?"
"You still wish to avenge your people? I understand." Behind her glasses' glimmer, That Girl's blue eyes were honest and frank. "I am at fault for having created the Gears who destroyed your nation. In your mind and in mine, I killed them. It was for a good cause in the future, but it could never be morally right, never. I am in the wrong.
"Though justice is God's alone, it is however wielded by the hands of the people on Earth. I have done you wrong; justice is thus in your hands. Take it and wield it." Yuuki looked into Baiken's eyes with finality. "Please kill me. Only promise me that if I die, you and the others will stop Sho Tsuzuku."
"Baiken…" Anji said softly.
Yuuki simply knelt there and waited.
Baiken wavered, torn apart by the thoughts that revenge was at hand but that That Girl was not only apologizing, she was also offering her life as payment for a promise that might never be fulfilled. Yuuki was willing to die without a fight. She believed and admitted she had done much evil.
She was willing to die in order that the world may be saved.
Baiken suddenly screamed in anger and plunged her sword down–
"Baiken!"
–into the ground, where the katana quivered harmlessly.
The Japanese woman grabbed Yuuki by the front of her clothes and hauled her up to her feet. That Girl did not let her eyes waver or any kind of fear to show.
"Damn you," Baiken hissed. "You killed my people and my family and took away my arm and my eye and my old peaceful life. I can never forgive you for all that!"
Yuuki did not flinch or move.
"But… but you gave me back my arm and my eye. You gave me a new life to replace the old that was burned away by fire." She looked at her husband Anji, the latter goofily grinning in relief. "You know you cannot bring my people back, but… but you are willing to die so that my surviving people and all the other people in the world will live."
The anger drained away from Baiken in a final rush, and she looked tired as she pushed Yuuki away. "Damn you," she murmured, her resolve dissolving into tears. "Damn you, Yuuki Darren. Damn you to hell…"
Anji put a reassuring hand on his wife's shoulder and told Yuuki, "We'll fight with you."
And Yuuki broke into a smile, her first honest one in a long time.
"Arigatou."
* * *
The present
"Rather impressive," Sho Tsuzuku admitted, "Especially your work with Baiken. Was it a long-range project to really give her back her arm and eye?"
"No, it was a selfish one in the original concept," returned Yuuki coolly and honest. "In keeping with what ideas you have put inside my mind, I'd freely admit, but I thought it up myself."
"So, what has entered your cute little head to think to stand up to me? After all," he added cruelly, "I seem to remember you broke off from your Master on your own free will before you came to beg for my assistance. Why the change of heart now?"
"I resent such distortion of the facts. You intruded into my life, remember? I never asked for your help. You offered it to me. I accepted your aid, but I did not beg for it. I never beg. Sheo gave me free will, but he didn't make me stupid.
"As for your question's answer, it's pretty simple." Yuuki tipped her glasses back up her nose and took on a serious expression. "It's the Hiremeki Ultimate Conscience Reformation Effect."
* * *
Flashback to Chapter Seven…
…"We've won." Yuuki allowed herself a sigh of contentment. "I guess this is the end…"
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
To the surprise of opponents and teammates alike, Amasagawa Mai was somehow on her feet and stumbling towards That Girl. "No! I won't let our group lose again! I will protect our master whatever the cost!"
Shaking her head in exasperation, Yuuki took off her glasses again.
But Mai had come to a halt, settling into a very familiar pose with sword sheathed, the right side of her body tilted forward and right foot before her left. Her eyes were burning with determination as she somehow found in herself the strength to launch that most ultimate attack of the ultimate sword technique!
Yuuki only had enough time to murmur, "That is–" before Mai unleashed her desperate strike:
"AMAKAKE RYU NO HIREMEKI!!!!!!!!!!!"
It was strangely not painful at all. It was as if everything slowed down for her and she could see every minute detail of the world around her and feel every tiny sensation within and without her. In a detached way, she watched Mai's sword cut through her body like a knife through butter, cleanly, swiftly, no pain or any other feeling at all.
Somehow, it seemed so disappointing.
She should have been dead. She should have been cut in half and lay on the ground, her blood watering the soil, her blue eyes lifelessly staring up at the sky. Mai's sword was a killing blade, a double-edged Western long sword. The Hiremeki was the ultimate move of the Hiten Mitsurugi.
For a moment, she thought she was really dead.
People who have had near-death experiences talk about having their entire life flash before them. Yuuki watched her short life rewind itself to the very beginning and play forward swiftly yet clearly. She heard her own voice talking: Happily, sadly, angrily, whatever the emotion she felt at that particular moment. It was scary yet somehow comforting to think these were the last things she would hear.
"Your intuition is superb. It would have taken Ky Kiske until the game's next production sequel to figure things out."
"Obscure joke. Rest, perturbed Bridget, rest."
"To quote one of my Master's other created characters: 'The lights are on, the curtains are raised, and the act begins. It's show time!"
"What do you think?"
"They will learn to feel the fury of That Girl scorned!"
"I should have known buying the Death Star for a hundred bucks was a lousy deal."
"The way you talk, it's like you're implying something sexual."
"Uh, oh. Everyone, step back: I think I dropped my contact lens!"
"At least I'm not Faust."
"Ha! Unlike Sheo and Lone Wolf, I can spell Jam's last name right!"
"You don't get it, do you, Sheo? All the girls you like are imperfect and all!"
"Can we stop talking about your fan fiction and start talking about how we're going to launch our next move?"
"Hey! I resent that term!"
"This time… This time, I'll win!"
"Obscure joke. Never mind…"
"My Master… Sheo… we will meet again one day… soon…"
"Hello, Yuuki Darren. Welcome back to the world of the living."
"Who are you?" she murmured faintly.
"That's almost always the first question they all ask. The proper question to ask in your case is different. Let's see if you can guess it right."
"Am I dead?"
"Smart girl," the young woman commented with a smile. "This makes it easier."
"Am I dead?"
"The answer is, 'No'. Not quite. Not yet."
"I'm…" She searched for an appropriate word. "Disappointed…"
"You shouldn't be. By all means, you should have been dead when Mai slashed you. But luckily for you, this is the world of The Wedding Night. People don't die here –or, at least, they don't die that easily. You can thank Sheo for that."
"Huh?"
"Do you know how much effort he took to make sure you're all right? He hates to interfere directly into things –unlike a lot of authors I know, myself included– but in your case, Sheo didn't even think twice to save you."
"Didn't he?"
"If he did, you wouldn't be around here talking to me, would you?"
"I hurt him. I called him names and plotted behind his back."
"We all do. Human beings are such a pitiful sight at times."
"I destroyed his dreams. I showed him the harsh reality of his girls' existence. I took away his happiness and hurt him where it matters the most: His heart."
"Dreams are not always good things. What you did to him is actually a good thing. Sheo needed to understand and accept that his girls are not perfect. No one is. Better now than later– or never."
"I attacked the girls he loved. If there's anything he can't forgive, it's hurting the girls he loves."
"I know, and that was a very bad thing you did."
"He'll never forgive me."
"Never is too long a time to even think of. Nobody stays angry for an eternity. Not you or me or Sheo or anyone else. Not even God."
"I was a fool."
"We all are. Foolishness is a part of human nature. When we admit we are fools, we stop becoming so."
"Then what do we become?"
"Better people. To quote another of Sheo's characters: 'We can hope, can we?'"
The strange girl turned to leave. Yuuki was feeling sleepy, but she managed to shake off her torpor and ask one final question:
"Who are you?"
The young woman turned slightly, and she thought she saw the hint of eyeglasses reflecting a tiny bit of light. She tossed something over to her, and Yuuki caught it. It was a small cute pendant, a crystal held within fine gold and bearing white wings.
"Himegoto." Secret.
She left, but she never really left. No one ever did.
* * *
The present…
"That mysterious girl taught me much in the short time we met and talked. I realized what I was doing was not wrong merely because I hurt people or did bad things that were against the law or society in general. I realized that what I did went against my very nature. That was why it was wrong. I was one thing, and I did something that struck at my own precepts and values, the thing that compose me.
"They all showed me how and why I was wrong. Ky would have laid his life on the line for Dizzy, and she for him. It's the same with Anji and Baiken, or Bridget and May, or Sol and Kagura, or Mai and the Box of Doom, or the Wanderer and Kirika, or Sheo and his girls. They lived for other people. All people do. Even I do.
"And when I started to hurt other people instead of living for them, I started to hurt myself.
"They saved me. I saved myself. Mai's sword broke my pretended superiority and arrogance, humbling me. That mysterious young woman showed me what was right and wrong with me, told me what I should do. I took the chance they offered and pulled myself out of the sinkhole that my life had degenerated into.
"And Sheo…" Yuuki looked up at that moment, her blue eyes determined. "Sheo gave me back my life."
"Enough is enough. Sho Tsuzuku, you are an evil that threatens this world –my world. Before, I fooled myself into letting you convince me to do your dirty work, to destroy those that are actually the most important things that matter to me. But I've learned from that mistake and many others from the past. As that woman told me, I'm better for it. If not, I can always hope.
"Mistakes are beyond me. The past is beyond me. They come back to haunt me, but I will fear them no longer. What really matters are the present I live within and the future I forge today.
"I am That Girl, creation of Sheo Darren, in my turn the creator of the Gears, feared by many and loved by a few –but the love of that few is enough, and they are not as few as I once thought they were.
"I am and will always be Yuuki Darren." Her blue eyes shone, even as her heart leaped in remembering the man who gave her back her life. "Now and forever."
* * *
The bridge of the Ultrasaurus
The gigantic carrier Zoid was on the move now, plodding its way solidly through calm seas at its maximum cruising speed in water. Aboard, all the girls were performing system checks and bringing the weapons systems fully online, a task they hadn't done for nine chapters since the last battle for the simple reason that they didn't have any reason to do so.
Until now, that is.
"Wanderer-san?"
The swordsman in black broke off his conversation with Earl Osborne –the latter cheerily coaxing every bit of speed he could out of the Ultrasaurus– and turned to talk with Tessa Testarossa and Ayanami Rei. "Hai?"
"Everything's up to speed," Tessa reported. "All systems are checked out at peak efficiency. Weapons are all operative and 100% ready. The Ultrasaurus is ready as it can ever be."
"And the girls?"
"Raring to go out and kick some ass, to use Dana's own words." Her brief smile was replaced by an expression of concern. "Is there any word on Sheo?"
For a moment, the Filipino adventurer looked perfectly neutral, almost like Rei. At his side, his girlfriend Yuumura Kirika seemed as troubled as her two friends. In fact, all the girls in the bridge and aboard the saurian battleship–the PA system was turned on– waited expectantly, worried that their worst fears –or their greatest hope– might pan out.
Elde Talonn, Swordsman No More and the Eternal Wanderer, broke into a smile that spoke volumes. "I think it's time that you girls should know something I've been told to keep secret for quite some time now."
* * *
The J-Ark
The best surprise of the day was when they finally brought to meet a most unexpected person, the last person they'd thought to find.
"Hello, May. Hi, Quatre, Sister Rosette."
The two GG fighters gaped at the sight of a certain bespectacled Filipino author who'd went missing on them seven chapters ago while in a coma, so surprised that Bridget didn't even think to complain about the running joke on him.
"Sheo!"
"I'm afraid so." Sheo Darren gestured to several comfortable chairs. "Please, do sit. You're guests here, and I do think you're tired from all the fun you had."
Both Bridget and May blushed.
"Thanks for the assist, Sister," he continued. "You've been invaluable help to me. You helped Bridget get May back, well enough that Sister Kate better not have ring the phone right now and scream her lungs out at you. I'd be very upset with her if she did. How is Azmaria-chan, by the way?"
"She's doing fine." Rosette beamed. "Are you inviting her, too?"
"Pending the dissolution of a certain thorn in my backside? Yes, I will."
"You're going to take out Sho Tsuzuku!" exclaimed May excitedly.
"It's been far too long since I ignored such a threat to my dimension. I should have taken care of him when he was still just a minor irritation, but I got sidetracked. I have to give Yuuki credit for such an unthought-of but devastating move. The reality of it put me out of action for quite a while.
"As you'd probably have seen, I've taken the liberty to bring in some additional help and a lot of firepower. Almost certainly –there is no certainty in life– I should be able to fix things up in the next two installments of this last chapter. Ah, thank you, Lumiere." The blue-haired girl graciously served the three guests drinks before she gracefully positioned herself beside Sheo. Bridget and May noticed this.
"Sheo, I don't remember seeing her aboard the Ultrasaurus. Who is she?"
"Ah. Friends, let me introduce Lumiere, formerly of the Galactic Organization for Trade and Tariff, now my new personal aide de camp. She's from Kiddy Grade. This battleship," Sheo gestured around him expansively, "Is the J-Ark, which I got from the J-Warriors in GaoGaiGar. You've seen the other battleships, too, I guess. They're all crewed by the newest additions to the girls I like.
"This is a serious excursion, yes, but I think it's not too bad to hope for the best." He smiled, feeling much better now that he had learned Lone Wolf SIX did review his previous chapters; there had been problems in fanfiction.net that had delayed them sending the review confirmations to him. "By the way, would anyone like lunch? Okonomiyaki on the house: Ucchan makes some of the best food I've tasted."
As the three voiced their approval, the J-Ark and her formidable escorts continued onwards. ETA to the battlefield was one and a half chapters.
Would they arrive in time?
* * *
The last battlefield
Sho Tsuzuku began to laugh.
He was totally unmoved by Yuuki's long speech. "Impressive speech, I must agree. You have accomplished your primary task of delaying our impending battle by a good margin and using up perfectly good bandwidth space. But if you think I will simply roll over and play dead –well, Yuuki Darren, you are dead wrong.
"You think to stand in my way? Fine." He gestured with a single hand, a hand that bore a ring upon it. "Come out, my minions. Show them the power of the true darkness."
From behind the super villain emerged nine fearsome figures:
Fibrizo (Slayers!)…
Raziel (Legacy of Kain)…
Shishio Makoto (Rurouni Kenshin)…
That shadow guy from Shadow Skill…
Lucia Rareglove (Rave)…
Sephiroth (FF8) bearing the reconstructed Kamigami Godslayer sword…
Ranma Saotome (Ranma ½)…
But it was the last two Chapters' identities that shocked the GG fighters. They were no other than–
"Testament-sama!" Dizzy gasped.
"Miss Jam?" blurted Ky.
Testament and Jam Kuradoberi.
"That Girl, GG fighters." Sho Tsuzuku gestured effusively. "I would like you to meet my troubleshooters: The ones who shoot trouble in my way. Meet: THE CHAPTER OF TEN!"
Despite some of her companions' consternation and apprehension, Yuuki was as unimpressed with the new enemy as Sho Tsuzuku had been with her. "I see you are a Kenshin fan," she did say sarcastically, "And except for the shadow guy and Ranma and Jam, you have a pretty good reason to call them the Jupongatana."
She gave Testament a long look, which made Ranma chuckle even as the offended party glared at them.
"Don't even think about it, punk."
"Yes, Honzo," Ranma said, before cracking up completely.
Testament just barely restrained himself from trying to decapitate the Anything-Goes martial artist.
"They were supposed to be the Chapter of Eleven," Sho Tsuzuku said with an evil smile. "I was hoping May could be the Eleventh Chapter, but unfortunately she had failed in her battle with Bridget and so could not be accepted into my group."
"There are only nine of them here." Yuuki felt –no, she knew something was wrong. "If May was the Eleventh, then where's the Tenth Chapt–"
The only warning she had was the flash of an impossibly fast striking sword, but it was enough. Even before the battle began, one of the GG fighters fell as casualty.
"Zappa!"
Zappa looked at the hole on his side, said, "Oops, I think I'm supposed to drop dead right now," and then promptly did so. Luckily, Faust was within reach of the unfortunate Australian and caught him as he fell.
"Woah! The doctor is in!"
Even before the other fighters could turn their fury on the traitor, the latter had already released a fine grey mist that obscured him from sight, allowing him to make it to Sho Tsuzuku's side unharmed.
Dizzy and Ky gasped again. Potemkin glowered.
"Johnny." Yuuki was grim. "I should have known."
"Rather slow on the uptake, are we?" The Jellyfish pirate cleaned his katana with a paper handkerchief that Sho Tsuzuku lent him. "I was expecting more out of you, Miss Yuuki."
"You appeared out of the blue, offering to help. I should have noticed something was wrong."
"Traitor!" Ky snapped angrily. "Why did you go over to Sho Tsuzuku's side?"
Johnny smirked, rather a bit like Sho Tsuzuku. "He provided me with something I've been denied the past decade," the man said, "Something none of you could ever give me."
Ky and Potemkin would have rushed at him, but Yuuki held them back with a sharp gesture. When she looked at Johnny, though, That Girl was not just miffed. She was absolutely so contemptuous, Johnny couldn't have existed in the world as far as she was concerned.
"You sold your soul and your friends and the world just to get laid, is that it? You're pathetic, Johnny."
"Sho Tsuzuku has absolutely lovely secretaries who perform a lot of services for him. Including," he gave Dizzy a knowing leer, "Special services."
(In the background, Vice and Mature, formerly of Rugal Bernstein's services but now Sho Tsuzuku's 'secretaries', giggle.)
"We haven't had sex yet, you pervert!" the half Gear snapped at him. "We saved it for our marriage and for the right time, not like you!"
Johnny actually blinked in surprise. So did everyone except Sho Tsuzuku, Yuuki, Hotaru, Rock and Ky. As for Testament and Jam, they gaped in shock.
"You mean you haven't done the cop in yet?" Johnny smacked his forehead. "What a loser."
"Compared to you," Yuuki calmly remarked, "A loser is better than a prune."
"What?" The air pirate then realized the veiled insult offered. "Why, you little–!"
"I think we've had enough talk," Sho Tsuzuku said for all of them. "The game of words and charades ends here. The game of deeds begins now."
"Indeed." Yuuki turned to Faust, who was checking out Zappa's condition. "Take care of him," she told the mad doctor, deciding to trust in the former Doctor Baldhead's rather defective sanity and even more unreliable skills to keep Zappa alive. "Don't let him die, please. We haven't featured him and S-Ko yet in The Wedding Night, and it would be such a shame to lose him."
"Roge-o, Mama Mia! I will take care of everything!" So saying, Faust took out a monster hypodermic needle. "This won't hurt a bit, I promise…"
There was no time at all, not even to wince at the thought of what Zappa would have to endure in order to survive; the cure was certainly worse than prevention. They were fourteen against nine –fifteen if Faust managed to do his thing, and sixteen if Zappa survived both getting stabbed and Faust's treatment (the latter being the worse part). The difference in power levels was big enough. Their morale was shaken by the fact that three of their number had gone over to the other side.
The worst thing of all: The most powerful GG fighters were not here to help out. Without Sol Badguy and Justine Harrier to tilt the odds some, the chances that they would win were bleak.
But Yuuki had no intention of losing this final battle. Nothing was hopeless.
She'd just known that herself.
"Pick your opponents and take them out," she told her allies. "If you're done with your target, assist the nearest ally in need of help. Be careful, and don't take any unnecessary chances."
She became grim with determination. "Show them no mercy, because they will show us none."
Sho Tsuzuku turned to the Chapter of Nine. "Kill them," he said simply.
Even as he gave his curt order, That Girl raised her hand majestically, pausing everyone, calling all attention to her as the sunlight fell upon her in a magnificent display, heroic and epic and grandeur Tolkienesque all in the form of this young girl who was Yuuki Darren as the brave theme of Rohan played from the skies above.
"Arise, arise, fighters of the Guilty Gear dimension! Fell deeds awake: Fire and slaughter! Outrage shall be shaken, Fortress Block be shivered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Up, works of Daisuke Ishiwatari! Forth now, and fear no darkness!
"Ride! Ride! Ride! Ride! Ride now, ride now! Ride, ride to ruin and the world's ending!
"Death! Death! Death! Death!"
"DEATH!" all the fighters roared in response, brandishing their weapons, their hearts and hopes afire.
Roaring forth like foam breaking to the shore, the fighters of Guilty Gear and Garrou came upon the Chapter of Ten and Sho Tsuzuku, fourteen strong in all. But none could overtake That Girl. A fey fury had seized her, as if the spirits of warriors past ran like wildfire in her blood, and like Oromë the Great thundering to the battlefield of the Valar when the world was young, Yuuki went forth, singing a song of war, and light came to fall on that field.
* * *
They thought themselves the last hopes of this world.
Perhaps they were, in a sense.
Perhaps they were not.
The mysterious woman watched and waited as Fate's Handmaidens wove their strands into a mighty tapestry with no equal and the world was changed once more. She smiled.
"
* * *
"Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!
Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!"
Theoden, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
tsuzuku